Dr. Christa Nater
Social & Organizational Psychologist
Research
Gender Stereotypes
Gender stereotypes are widely shared beliefs about the typical attributes of women and men. Even though stereotypes are relatively adequate and useful heuristics for everyday life, they also yield unfair biases by obscuring individual differences among people of the same gender. Specificially, stereotypes can make atypical individuals seem not only surprising but objectionable and can lead to negative evaluations of, for example, the woman who is a superb engineer of space rockets and the man who is an exceptionally caring teacher of young children. My research seeks to understand how the positioning of women and men in the social structures of society informs gender stereotypes and what their consequences are.
Nater, C., Miller, D., Eagly A. H., & Sczesny, S. (accepted). Gender stereotypes across nations relate to the social position of women and men: Evidence from cross-cultural public opinion polls. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.​
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Sczesny, S.*, Nater, C.*, Rudman, L., Lohmore, A., Malayeri, S., Sakallı, N., Saxler, F., & Gustafsson Sendén, M. (2025). How women and men should (not) be: Gender rules and their alignment with status beliefs across nations. Psychology of Women Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/03616843251328263 (PDF)​
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Eagly, A. H., Nater, C., Miller, D., Kaufmann, M., & Sczesny, S. (2020). Gender stereotypes have changed: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of U.S. public opinion polls from 1946-2018. American Psychologist, 75, 301-315. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000494 (PDF)​
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Sczesny, S., Nater, C., & Eagly, A. H. (2019). Agency and communion: Their implications for gender stereotypes and gender identities. In A. E. Abele & B. Wojciszke (Eds.), Current Issues in Social Psychology: Agency and Communion in Social Psychology (pp. 103-116). New York, NY: Routledge. (PDF)​​​
Social Inequalities in Society
Understanding the consequences of the social category gender for society, understanding the consequences of misogynous messages in the media, and uncovering the prevalence of sexual aggression in Islamic societies.
Gender & Misogyny & the Media​​​​
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Nater, C., Felber, L., Lücke, R., Eagly, A. H., Greitemeyer, T., Miller, D. I., & Dorrough, A. R. (accepted). Misogynous messages in the media increase hostility toward women: A meta-analysis of 261 studies. Psychological Bulletin.​
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Steven R., …, Nater, C., …, & van Bavel, J. J. (accepted pending minor revision). Registered report: Testing the causal impact of social media reduction in many countries. Nature.
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Schmader, T. & Nater, C. (2025). Gender. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, E. J. Finkel, & W. B. Mendes (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (6th ed). Situational Press. https://doi.org/10.70400/AKXO6205 (PDF)​
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Nater, C., & Zell, E. (2015). Accuracy of social perception: An integration and review of meta-analyses. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 9, 481-494. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12194 (PDF)​​
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Sexual Aggression
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Malayeri, S., Nater, C., Krahé, B., Vandello, J., & Sczesny, S. (accepted). Is she a good Muslima: The impact of Hijab (head covering) on Muslims’ evaluation of a rape incident. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605251384944 (PDF)
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Malayeri, S., Nater, C., Krahé, B., Vandello, J., & Sczesny, S. (2024). Married or on a date: Cultural norms and gender differences in rape perception in an Iranian sample. Journal of Sexual Aggression. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600.2024.2418102 (PDF)
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Malayeri, S., Nater, C., Krahé, B., Sczesny, S. (2022). Sexual aggression among women and men in an Iranian sample: Prevalence and correlates. Sex Roles, 87, 139-153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-022-01312-2 (PDF)​
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Social Inequalities in Workplaces
Women make up 8% of CEOs in large companies (S&P 500; Catalyst, 2023) and men less than 4% of early childhood educators (OECD, 2021). Yet, occupational segregation is known to hinder the inclusion of talented people, curtail economic growth, and thwart the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (World Economic Forum, 2020). My research examines barriers to women’s success in leadership and STEM, barriers to men’s success in care-oriented careers, and advances the understanding of disparities in medicine. In these lines of research, lay out evidence-based recommendations for encouraging greater gender diversity in workplaces.
Women in Masculine-Typed Domains
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Nater, C., Koyama, J., Hall W., & Schmader, T. (under review). Inclusive cultures in STEM free women (and men): Implications for dominant leadership, career constraints, and students’ grades. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
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Plückelmann, C., Nater, C., & Sczesny, S. (under review). Lean in? When women—more than men—hesitate to apply for leadership positions unless they meet all job requirements. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.
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Zehnter, M., & Nater, C. (2025). Beyond being beneficiaries: Two mechanisms explain women’s more favorable explicit and implicit attitudes toward women quotas. European Journal of Social Psychology, 55, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.3113 (PDF)
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Nater, C., Eagly, A. H., Heilman, M. E., Messerli-Bürgy, N., & Sczesny, S. (2024). Emphasizing the communal demands of a leader role makes job interviews less stressful for women but not more successful. Sex Roles, 90, 1506-1520.​ https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-024-01509-7 (PDF)
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Nater, C., Heilman, M. E., & Sczesny, S. (2023). Footsteps I would like to follow? How gender quotas affect the acceptance of women leaders as role models and inspirations for leadership. European Journal of Social Psychology, 53, 129-146. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2892 (PDF)​
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​​Nater, C., & Sczesny, S. (2016). Affirmative action policies in job advertisements for leadership positions: How they affect women’s and men’s inclination to apply. European Journal of Social Psychology, 46, 891-902. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2200 (PDF)​​
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Men in Feminine-Typed Domains
Haines, S. , Hegarty, P., Nater, C., Sczesny, S., & Graf, S. (under review) More interested than they think: Pluralistic ignorance, sexual orientation and men’s perceptions of childcare work. Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
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Haines, S., Nater, C., & Sczesny, S. (2024). Creating a system that cares: A PRISMA review and road map to increase men’s representation in early childhood education and care. Psychology of Men and Masculinities, 25, 451-465. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000486 (PDF)​
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Sczesny, S., Nater, C., & Haines, S. (2021). Perceived to be incompetent, but not a risk: Why men are evaluated as less suitable for childcare work than women. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 52, 693-703. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12845 (PDF)​​​​​
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Gender-based Disparities in Medicine
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Moor, J., Woodtli, L., Baumgartner, C., Kublickiene, K., Streit, S., Nater, C. (under review). Factors associated with career ambitions in general internal medicine: Insights into gender disparities in leadership aspirations. European Journal of Internal Medicine.
Egger, I., Nater, C., Baumgartner, C., Streit, S., Moor, J. (under review). Sex differences in personal and work-related factors associated with impaired well-being among Swiss General Internal Medicine physicians. European Journal of Internal Medicine
Egger, I., Wiedlinger, S., Zdanowicz, J., Kublickiene, K., Nater, C., Streit, S., & Moor, J. (under review). Parenthood, caregiving and female fertility among General Internal Medicine Physicians in Switzerland. The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology, & Women’s Health
Wassner, O., Nater, C., Barbier, J. M., Streit, S., Moor, J. (under review). The prevalence of sexual harassment in Internal Medicine in Switzerland. JAMA Internal Medicine Open.
Scientific Findings and their Robustness
Understanding when and why scientific knowledge can become fragile.
Balazs, A., …, Nater, C., …, Nosek, B. A. (accepted). Investigating the analytical robustness of the social and behavioural sciences. Nature.
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Nater, C., & Eagly, A. H. (2025). The fragility of scientific knowledge: A case study of miscitation of findings on gender stereotypes​​. Sex Roles, 91, 21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-025-01561-x (PDF)